The good folks at Daytrotter posted a live session by Aimee Mann this week. If you’ve never been to Daytrotter give yourself plenty of time to wander about the place. It’s an endless treasure trove of intimate performances from up & comers as well as some of indie rock’s bigger names. Mann’s session features four selections from her 7th solo album, @#%&*! Smilers, a collection of lush, urgently gorgeous pop vignettes of brutally honest personal exploration focusing on the fractured and flawed. In short, Mann at what she does best.

Here’s a taste:

31 Today (live on Daytrotter)

Click on the picture above to get the whole session. I highly recommend picking up a copy of @#%&*! Smilers here. The 3rd installment of Aimee Mann’s Annual Christmas Show pulls into Bimbo’s 365 Club in SF on December 9. Tickets went on sale today and can be purchased right here.

Hold On Now, Youngster…, the stellar full length debut from this Welsh septet will be released in North America April 1st on Canada’s Arts & Crafts records. Their frenetic indie rock mixes Broken Social Scene’s “everyone we know who sings or plays is in the band” aesthetic, Art Brut’s snotty punk pop attitude, Arctic Monkey’s insanely wordy social observation and Architecture in Helsinki’s eclectic instrumentation with great male/female vocal interplay. Click on the cover to pre-order a deluxe edition from Insound.

KALX is co-announcing their show at Bimbo’s June 6 so tune in towards the end of May for free tickets. Los Campesinos! on myspace

That Man I Shot – Drive-By Truckers

One of the more chilling songs about war I’ve ever heard, inspired by a backstage conversation between Patterson Hood and some Gulf war vets. Brighter Than Creation’s Dark maintains the high octane rocking and quality songcraft we’ve come to expect from these Athens, GA folks despite the departure of guitarist and third songwriter Jason Isbell. The legendary Spooner Oldham sits in on keys throughout and bassist Shonna Tucker contributes some fine songs to fill the absence left by her now ex-husband Isbell.

Paper Switchblade – Tommy Guerrero

Record number eight from this Bay Area skate legend proves he’s still an unstoppable groove machine. Return Of The Bastard is the perfect soundtrack to those slow summer cruises with the top down. These killer funk, deep soul and Latin instrumentals have kept my toes tapping for weeks.

The rest of the tour dates:
4/20 Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver
4/21 Neumo’s, Seattle
4/22 Wonder Ballroom, Portland
4/25 Coachella Fest, Indio, CA
4/26 The Joint, Las Vegas
4/28 The Fillmore Auditorium, Denver
4/29 Uptown Theatre, Kansas City
5/01 House of Blues, Dallas
5/02 Stubb’s BBQ, Austin
5/04 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
6/13 Bonnaroo Fest., Manchester, TN
6/26 Hove Fest.,Arendal, Norway
7/12 T in the Park, Kinross, Scotland
7/13 Oxegen Fest., Naas, Ireland

Consolers Of The Lonely tracklist:
1. Consoler Of The Lonely
2. Salute Your Solution
3. You Don’t Understand Me
4. Old Enough
5. The Switch And The Spur
6. Hold Up
7. Top Yourself
8. Many Shades Of Black
9. Five On The Five
10. Attention
11. Pull This Blanket Off
12. Rich Kid Blues
13. These Stones Will Shout
14. Carolina Drama

UPDATE: the show at Bimbo’s apparently sold out during the pre-sale in just under an hour…